Pinterest: Global and Local

The Challenge

Did you know that creativity is the second most in-demand skill in the world?… but what does creativity really mean? The Pinterest team asked The Sound to help them explore it in three new growth markets across Asia: India, Indonesia and Philippines. They wanted to immerse deeply into these regions’ cultures and understand what creativity means to people. Through rich learning about the region’s local cultural nuances and social media landscape, they wanted to carve out value propositions for each market that would help them cement their place in culture through future product innovations and marketing campaigns. 

The Approach

Over the course of three consecutive projects, we planned and lead the global Pinterest team through local market Cultural Safaris exploring food, fashion and home design. Speaking to cutting edge creative people to understand their lives and where they find inspiration. And somehow in-between we found time to take cooking classes, shop in local markets and visit galleries to round out full immersion in each culture. In order to bring our understanding back to the brand in an impactful way, we also explored the role of a variety of social media apps and how Pinterest fit into the landscape.   

The Impact

Pinterest’s target in the region was in a unique place: while they aspired to the Western world via the internet they still wanted to hold on to their cultural roots and traditions. Their manifestations of creativity reflected this need, and for Pinterest to succeed in the region it needed to do the same. As a globally revered app people were using Pinterest to find global inspiration, but true growth would be unlocked if they were able to find relevant, local content as well. 

We helped the core team bring to life some of these markets for the wider Pinterest team through posters, films and actionable strategic plans for each country.